Health Department celebrates renovation, accreditation

The La Crosse County Health Department embraced the completion of their renovation and addition after months of construction with an open house on Tuesday.

Jennifer Rombalski, Director for the La Crosse County Health Department said the renovation added about 8 exam rooms, several more than they had before.

"We can specialize some of those exam rooms. We've created a few of them that are really family friendly. For example, for our WIC, Women, Infants, and Children Program it's nice for families to be able to come in there, have access to some toys, be able to get all their services in one room and not have to move around. So that's really helpful for our families that we're serving," said Rombalski.

She added they're also commemorating their accreditation by the state of Wisconsin and the nation. Only nine health departments have been awarded this status prior to them, making them one of the first 150 in the nation.

"So what that says to our residents, to those who live, work, learn, and play here in La Crosse County it says that we serve better than other health departments and we're really proud of that," expressed Rombalski.

A tower expansion allows for about 18 new office spaces and an opportunity to create a more dedicated intern space for students to grow, learn, and help the county out.

"La Crosse County Health Department is always innovative, that's one of our value statements and we're transparent, that's another one of our value statements. So what it means for us, is just sharing this moment, this time with our community members. Celebrating accreditation, celebrating our new space and really this new space is about providing opportunities for those that we serve in the community and the staff that are serving those folks," added Rombalski.

The Health Dept. serves more than 2,000 women, infants, and children every month.

With about 70 full and part-time employees, including seasonal workers who help with the vector control and mosquito surveillance during the summer months.